"I did it for 27 years," he said. "You don't just forget things overnight. One thing about this job is it's been really good because it allows me to study the game and do features on the game. ... It's not like I'm out of it. I know how the game is changing."

We believe him on that. Cowher hasn't been growing an impressive beard in some remote jungle since the mid-aughts. He's been sitting in a studio, talking about the NFL, pretending to laugh at Shannon Sharpe jokes.

That said, each year away from the game pulls Cowher further off the NFL radar. Five years ago, Cowher was the dream target for any NFL franchise looking for a reboot. Now? Not so much.